1984 230CE coupe leaks water in

[Beautifulbodywork]

When it rains heavily my beloved Mercedes 1984 230CE coupe leaks water in. I park it on a driveway with a slight incline and in the mornings there is water sometimes under the mat on the drivers' side on the drivers' floor area. There is also water immediately behind also on the drivers' side in back seat passenger floor area. But here it's confined to the length of the carpet line soaked through where floor meets upper part of passenger floor area. I've had the lower window rubbers each side replaced because they were perished and that helps but water is still coming through. Is it coming through sunroof drainage areas or from underneath the car? What can I do to keep the car dry inside? It smells of damp now and the water will rot the chassis if I'm not careful.

 

[television]

Hello and welcome to the forum. This is the second post today on this subject, this could be the sun roof drains blocked or that the under tray is rusted through,,if it is the later then the headlining has to come down to get to it,,and this is no easy job. There are many post in the archives for fixing it,, if rusted through then you could do a temporary repair with a non setting removable mastic like Dum Dum

 

[Beautifulbodywork]

Malcolm many thanks for your reply but I'm not a mechanic. Where and what is the headlining and where is the under tray situated? Sorry for being ignorant.

 

[television]

The head lining is the material inside the car covering the inside of the roof. This has to be taken down to get to the metal tray that sits under the sun roof to catch any water that gets in along the edges.

I would still try and find the end of the drain tubes in the car and try and push something up like strimmer cord

You could go to a car upholsterer who is used to doing these things

 

[vijilants]

The water leak situation is not so straightforward on the W123 coupe. I have owned a couple of these and they are also notorious for developing leaks from below the front and rear windscreen rubbers due to rust.

This water lands up in either the front or rear footwells, depending on which screen is leaking.

More often than not, this is usually the case.

Using a sealant below the rubber very rarely fixes the problem.

The only real solution is to have the screens removed , have the rust properly repaired and then have the screens replaced by a specialist who is experienced in doing this job on the W123 coupe.

I say use a specialist because many of these land up getting messed up on installation and again start to leak due to badly fitted rubbers.

 

[stever]

If you're lucky, it will be the bonnet spring cavities at each side of the engine bay. These get blocked with leaves & muck, then overflow into the cabin. Go and test them with a watering can...

If it's not that, probably the sunroof drains or screen seals as others have suggested.